相关论文: Shaping thin nematic films with competing boundary…
We investigate theoretically the wetting properties of cholesteric liquid crystals at a planar substrate. If the properties of substrate and of the interface are such that the cholesteric layers are not distorted the wetting properties are…
Volatile viscous fluids on partially-wetting solid substrates can exhibit interesting interfacial instabilities and pattern formation. We study the dynamics of vapor condensation and fluid evaporation governed by a one-sided model in a low…
The surface of a thin liquid film with nonconstant curvature flattens as a result of capillary forces. While this leveling is driven by local curvature gradients, the global boundary conditions greatly influence the dynamics. Here, we study…
We consider a nematic liquid crystal confined by two parallel planar interfaces, one being laterally homogeneous and the other provided by a substrate endowed with a periodic chemical stripe pattern. Based on continuum theory we analyze the…
We demonstrate spontaneous wrinkling as a transient dynamical pattern in thin freely floating smectic liquid-crystalline films. The peculiarity of such films is that, while flowing liquid-like in the film plane, they cannot quickly expand…
We show that stable, freely suspended liquid crystal films can be made from the ferroelectric nematic ($\mathrm{N_F}$) phase and from the recently discovered polar, lamellar $\mathrm{SmZ_A}$ and $\mathrm{SmA_F}$ phases. The $\mathrm{N_F}$…
Understanding and controlling the director field configuration, shape, and orientation in nematic and cholesteric liquid crystals is of fundamental importance in several branches of science. Liquid crystalline droplets, also known as…
Micron-sized objects confined in thin liquid films interact through forces mediated by the deformed liquid-air interface. This capillary interactions provide a powerful driving mechanism for the self-assembly of ordered structures such as…
Nematic solids respond strongly to changes in ambient heat or light, significantly differently parallel and perpendicular to the director. This phenomenon is well characterized for uniform director fields, but not for defect textures. We…
The morphology of crystalline thin films evolving on flat rigid substrates by condensation of extra film atoms or by evaporation of their own atoms in the surrounding vapor is studied in the framework of the theory of Stress Driven…
Precise manipulation of shape-morphing responsive materials is crucial for applications in soft robotics and adaptive structures. While notable precision has been achieved in thin two-dimensional sheets, an accurate volumetric…
The nonlinear elastic properties of nematic liquid crystals have acquired new interest with the recent experimental observation of bulk modulated nematic phases which are composed by achiral molecules. We extend the Oseen-Zocher-Frank's…
We studied in-plane bistable alignments of nematic liquid crystals confined by two frustrated surfaces by means of Monte Carlo simulations of the Lebwohl-Lasher spin model. The surfaces are prepared with orientational checkerboard patterns,…
Within the Onsager theory we study free planar isotropic-nematic interfaces in binary mixtures of hard rods. For sufficiently different particle shapes the bulk phase diagrams of these mixtures exhibit a triple point, where an isotropic (I)…
The isotropic-to-nematic transition in liquid crystals is studied in d=3 spatial dimensions. A simulation method is proposed to measure the angle dependent interfacial tension g(theta), with theta the anchoring angle of the nematic phase at…
A nematic liquid crystal in contact with a grating surface possessing an alternating stripe pattern of locally homeotropic and planar anchoring is studied within the Frank--Oseen model. The combination of both chemical and geometrical…
The equilibrium phase space of magnetic textures in thin-films of cubic chiral ferromagnets, including skyrmions, is explored as a function of in-plane magnetic field strength, film thickness and uniaxial anisotropy. The interplay between…
The ability to manipulate polar entities with multiple external fields opens exciting possibilities for emerging functionalities and novel applications in spin systems, photonics, metamaterials, and soft matter. Liquid crystals (LCs),…
Advent of nematic liquid crystals flows have attracted renewed attention in view of microfluidic transport phenomena. Among various transport processes, electroosmosis stands as one of the efficient flow actuation method through narrow…
In soft matter, the phase of nematic liquid crystals can be made from anisotropic molecules in single component materials, or as a suspension of mesoscopic nematogens. The later offers more versatility in the experimental design of complex…